Science

During key stage 2, pupils learn about a wide range of living things, materials and physical processes and start to explain things using simple theories and models. They learn to apply their understanding and knowledge of scientific ideas and carry out a range of systematic investigations, working on their own and with others. They also begin to think about the positive and negative effects of scientific and technological developments on the environment.

1. Scientific Enquiry

Children are taught:

• about their own bodies
• the importance of a varied diet and exercise for good health
• how animals and plants are classified
• about the habitats plants and animals need to live in
• the purpose of roots and flowers in plants

At the end of Key Stage 2 (age 11), most children are able to:

• recognise that scientific ideas are based on evidence
• suggest practical ways to answer scientific questions
• set up a fair test by varying one thing while keeping everything else the same
• choose the equipment they need to set up a test
• make a series of observations or measurements
• record observations or measurements using tables, simple graphs and bar charts
• make predictions and draw conclusions from observations and reference sources

2. Life Processes and Living Things

At the end of Key Stage 2 (age 11), most children are able to:

• name major body organs (
• know where the major body organs are
• name plant organs
• identify and group animals and plants based on their features
• explain ideas about the food chain

3. Materials and their Properties

At the end of Key Stage 2 (age 11), most children are able to:

• classify materials by their different properties (for example, as solid, liquid, gas)
• use scientific names for some important changes (for example, evaporation, condensation)
• describe ways of separating substances (for example, filtering)
• use knowledge about which changes can or cannot be reversed to predict whether other changes can be reversed.

4. Physical Processes

Children are taught about:

• about electric circuits
• about magnets
• about the forces of gravity and friction
• how light and sound travel
• basic facts about the Sun, Earth and Moon

At the end of Key Stage 2 (age 11), most children are able to:

• connect, make changes to and draw diagrams of simple electrical circuits
• make generalisations about forces (for example, friction slows things down, magnets repel and attract)
• describe what happens to sound and light when we hear and see
• describe the appearance of the Sun, Earth and Moon and how their positions change